The desire for a renaissance in present-day Africa must be evaluated against the background of forty years of postindependence economic delusion and political chaos. Earlier attempts at African renaissance, such as foreign development aid, structural adjustment programmes, and continental union government, failed principally because existing political and economic structures were insufficiently integrated and hence patently incapable of meeting the challenges of economic emancipation envisaged by African renaissance. Fundamental to this was the fact that considerations of sovereignty often stifled private and local initiatives at economic integration. The root cause of Africa’s backwardness lies in the hindrances of economic and political barriers. The fundamental solution to the problems of backwardness must be sought not in the efforts of individual countries, but in their collective effort as economically integrated blocs. Africa’s economic delusion has its variant in security matters, where inappropriate structures have created problems of widespread and endemic political violence. The challenge is continental; the response requires collective efforts at genuine integration based on comparative advantage and specialization, and the accompanying institution of appropriate political and security structures. Bibliogr. (An essentially similar version appears in: Annual Conference / African Society of International and Comparative Law, [vol.] 10 (1998), p. 355-371.)
